When Annabeth Misinterprets the Depressing Story of Leo Valdez
by I am Bianca Daughter of Hades
Summary: 'Annabeth Chase had heard many sad stories in her life, but this was certainly the most depressing.' And worse, it's Leo's story... A Leo-centric, Percabeth oneshot of friendship, worry, and revealation. Not all is what it seems to be...


**Author's Note: This is my fifteenth story and my first oneshot featuring Percabeth! XD **

**It's an entry for the Once Upon A Time...And They Lived Happily Ever After in Of Prompts and Challenges. It's exactly 1800 words long! There are some indirect mentions connected to suicide and well, this is basically a Leo-centric, Percabeth oneshot. ****Okay, this is probably two or three years after the Second Giant War. **

**Please don't mistake this for a truley depressing story because you may be surprised! XD So, sit back, relax if you can, and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not even MALE!**

* * *

Annabeth Chase had heard many sad stories in her life, but this was certainly the most depressing.

Sure, she's lived quite a few herself. But hearing someone else tell it was entirely different.

Especially coming from the ever cheerful Leo Valdez.

You see, Leo has only ever told Jason and Piper about his past and to anyone else, the subject was strictly taboo. Of course, she's quite curious herself but she understood why people may be reluctant about sharing their pasts. After all, she was quite touchy herself when she first came to Camp.

But this morning when she was getting some hot chocolate alone (since Percy is still drooling away in his sleep), she saw Leo all by himself, sitting miserably with a dark, gloomy expression. It was irrational and completely unnatural. The look on his face was so full of sadness, it seemed as if there was a suicidal atmosphere in the air. Naturally, she had to know what was wrong and, surprisingly, Leo told her about his past with a glum expression.

"-I was eight when my mother died. I- I was helping her with the workshop. We were finishing up when she forgot her keys. She went to get them and Gaea came. She- she blocked me from my mother. I had to save her with the only weapon I had," an anguished expression twisted his face as he lit a small flame in his hands and continued, "I lost control over my gift. I went unconscious afterwards, waking up to find my mother is...gone. And today is the same day I woke up in the hospital."

Annabeth's throat felt dry as she murmured, "I'm so sorry, Leo."

He laughed bitterly, "It was my fault in the first place. I...I caused my mother's death!"

She narrowed her eyes, "It was Gaea's fault, not yours."

He shook his head stubbornly, "Even if it is, I'm still the cause of the fire."

An uncomfortable silence descended between them. It was the rarest of the rarest, an uncomfortable silence with a depressed Leo Valdez.

Suddenly, Leo burst out, "My life sucks!"

"How so?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

Leo started uncomfortably, "I mean, l know I have friends and whatnot. But look at my childhood. It is definitely disturbing, to say the least. And now look at my current life. I know I'm way better off than I was but, still. I'm the one of the most well-liked of the Seven but the least respected, the odd one out. I'm just the guy who jokes around and has crazy fire abilities that can wreck everything! And the weight of the world is on my shoulders even though I'm prone to screwing up," he said with a tight face and then added, "My love life isn't much better either."

"Huh?" Annabeth was a bit confused. One minute, he was ranting about how useless and unimportant he is (he really isn't, by the way) and talks about his love life the next.

"Yeah, it isn't," Leo made a face. "Piper wasn't Jason-obsessed when I met her, you know? We were best friends and getting to more than that before Tia interfered. Gods, I swear she hates me more than she hates all of Zeus's children put together. Anyway, you know that observatory memory?" Annabeth recalled Piper telling her about a beautiful fake memory and nodded slowly. "Well, that was me. I remember everything now. But I think Tia or Aphrodite is purposefully keeping that from Pipes at the moment. And Tia had to make Jason waltz in as the handsome, heroic prince to sweep her off her feet. The worst is that I think Aphrodite herself is influencing them to stay in love! She knew Jason had Reyna waiting on him. And now I'm just the sidekick best friend of the noble hero and the beautiful heroine." Leo spat bitterly as Annabeth's facial features softened in sympathy. But she really didn't know what to say or do.

"And then they broke up when Jason realized he's liked Reyna all along. Piper never admitted it but she still pined after him a bit after that. I mean, is she blind or something? I was falling more for her all that time and yet she still sees Jason?!" Leo shook his head with a scoff.

Annabeth smiled uncomfortably, "I tried hinting about it though…"

"It doesn't seem to work, does it?" Leo asked with a lifeless expression on his face with a hint of bitterness.

Annabeth looked down at the cup of hot chocolate in her hands as a silence descended between them.

"You know," Leo suddenly said, looking away, "sometimes I wonder if it's worth it living a life you hate..." Annabeth's eyes widened immediately and was about to protest when Leo got up with a forced half-smile, "Sorry, I just needed to get that out. See you later!"

With that, he left the coffee shop quickly into the foggy Frisco morning.

That is definitely not the best way to start the day.

* * *

Annabeth was just walking down the streets of New Rome with Percy, hand in hand. They just had lunch together in this really good restaurant Gwen recommended them. (It was the restaurant Dakota proposed to her but the food there is definitely delicious.)

They were passing the electronics shop and the TVs were playing the news. She normally didn't pay attention much to those (especially when she's with Percy) but it definitely made her nervous when she heard the word 'suicide'. She really shouldn't be thinking this but she can't help it that her brain automatically pulls out the image of the majorly depressed, almost suicidal Leo she saw just this morning. She gulped automatically, another mental image in her head of the headline tomorrow… Eh, not a pretty image. She actually winced out loud.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked with concern evident in his voice.

Annabeth had a feeling in her gut she should find Leo and talk him out of…whatever he would do. She felt her throat constrict as she asked slowly, "Have you seen Leo?"

"No…I woke up at 11 a.m. this morning! Then went on a date with the most beautiful but sometimes scary demigod alive." Percy laughed, pulling her closer affectionately.

She giggled a little distractedly with worry taking over her mind again. She pulled away a bit unexpectedly, "Um, I have something important to do. I'll, uh, see you later."

She then left her Seaweed Brain even more confused than he usually is.

Annabeth was walking fast around New Rome, asking all the people she knew were close to Leo where Leo WAS at the moment.

She doesn't want Leo to…do something everyone would regret. She knows how it feels like, to have a sudden urge to end your own life when nothing would ever be right again. She felt that too before she met Percy, when she thought Percy was dead, when she found out Luke fully became Kronos, and when she couldn't find Percy anywhere that day Hera took him. She hasn't felt like that in years.

"Hazel! Frank!" Annabeth breathed a little as the almost engaged (It was just a matter of time.) couple smiled at her, "Have you seen Leo anywhere?"

Frank shook his head, "No, we haven't."

Hazel seemed to sense something was wrong, "Is something wrong?"

Annabeth shook her head and kept on looking until she found Jason on his way to deliver some pizza and a beautiful bouquet of roses to Reyna, who was stressing over Gwen being pregnant, "Jason! Have you seen Leo?"

Jason replied immediately, "Not today yet. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing!" Annabeth yelled as she raced past him.

She kept on asking people who might have a clue for the next two hours without receiving even _one_ positive answer.

At last, she found the girl majorly featured in Leo's little story.

"Piper!" Annabeth said, slightly panting as she brushed few strands of hair from her face.

"Yes?" Piper looked up from what seems to be a trashy romance novel.

"Have you seen Leo anywhere today?" Annabeth asked urgently, looking at her watch nervously.

Piper shook her head with steady eyes, "No…what's wrong?"

Annabeth grimaced but said, "Thanks!" before she ran off to the places that Leo might be…

* * *

She searched the Argo ll, the arena, the Senate Building, every shop (He didn't even go to the taco store!), and she even had someone go check in the men's restroom. There was only one last place left: Tower of New Rome, the tallest building in the whole city.

The Tower of New Rome was a tall marble tower that overlooked all of New Rome and stands about 36 stories tall. It was quite recently built but a very spectacular sight indeed with the superiorly sculptures and the gold gilt. It has an elevator that can only go up to the 30th floor, which meant she has to climb the last six stories fast enough in case she was too late.

Her heart was beating fast as her mind unwillingly imagined all sorts of situations that Leo could be in. There weren't any normal or nice ones, unfortunately.

Please, please, please no… Leo was her friend. They saved the world together.

She flung open the door and saw a figure saluted to the fading sunset. "Leo, NO!"

Leo turned around to face her with an emotionless mask. "What?"

"Don't…don't jump. It's…it's not right." Annabeth panted with a pained but resolute expression on her face.

Then, Leo burst out laughing with six laughing people emerged from the stairs.

* * *

"Wait, you're not committing suicide?" Annabeth crossed her arms as Leo wiped tears of laughter from his eyes with an arm over Jason to support himself.

"No," Leo scoffed with a grin, "I'm too sexy and awesome to do that. The world would miss me too much."

"So…you all lied about not seeing him anywhere just to…?" Annabeth's eyes widened in disbelief.

They nodded with matching mischievous smiles.

"That is…" Annabeth huffed as she gaped in her stupidity. She only hopes her mother doesn't disown her for falling for a trick like this.

Hazel and Frank were grinning guiltily as Piper was smiling with a subdued chuckle. Jason and Reyna trying to stifle their laughter but Leo had no trouble laughing after five minutes of doing exactly that.

Annabeth turned to her boyfriend with a cross expression, "So you're telling me that I got all worried for nothing?"

Percy chuckled as he put an arm around her as he nodded, "Yes."

Annabeth glared at him, trying not to melt in his embrace as he leaned in.

"We were joking."

She allowed a small smile to grace her lips when he whispered those three words into her ear and then went back to scowling.

_**The End**_

* * *

**Author's Note:** **Well? Did the ending get you by surprise? Did I scare you? XD Was this well-written? Do you like it? What was the best part? Welp, that's what reviews are for! XD**

**Anyway, I certainly hope I did Percabeth justice! :)**

**PONDS! (Peace Out Ninja Demigod Style! This is Bianca-speak! XD)**


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